1. BY NEIL ZEIDENBERG
OTTAWA – With the number of Ontario
senior citizens expected to double over the
next 20 years, a new project that uses tech-
nology and safer designs to create
“smarter” apartments for seniors makes a
great deal of sense. The result may give the
elderly greater independence and the
option to remain in the old, familiar
places, rather than move to long-term care
institutions.
The project is called TAFETA (Technol-
ogy-Assisted, Friendly Environment for
the Third Age.) It addresses three key
issues facing an aging population: declin-
ing health, decreasing mobility and
decreasing cognition.
“The team will address these issues by
coordinating remote health monitoring
such as bio-sensors and video-conferenc-
ing, developing safer environmental
designs and building prototype apart-
ments,” says Dr. Frank Knoefel, medical
director, geriatric rehabilitation service,
SCO Health Service.
Project TAFETA is led by the Universi-
ty of Ottawa Institute on Health of the
Elderly, along with a half-dozen partner
organizations including:
• March Networks Corporation
• Carleton University Faculty of Engi-
neering and Design
• SCO Health Service
• Residence Sacre-Coeur of the Sisters of
Charity of Ottawa
• Central Park Lodges
• The Change Foundation
TAFETA brings together experts from
healthcare, engineering, technology,
research and design to build more appro-
priate living spaces for the elderly. The
smart apartment is a first in Ontario, and
will free up caregiver time, thereby making
better use of community practitioners and
resources.
For its part, March Networks Corp. is
providing its home telehealth technology,
developed in response to a growing need
to monitor and provide early intervention
and prevention services to aging patients
in their homes.
“A smart apartment benefits frail seniors
by adding safety features to their home
environments, thereby preventing unneces-
sary hospitalizations or premature entry to
a long-term care facility,” said Sandra
Lowenstein, manager of market develop-
ment for home telehealth, March Networks.
Moreover, its videoconferencing tech-
nology can offer support to those seeking
education or counseling on a variety of
specific topics such as diet and medication
compliance.
During phase one, the project concen-
trates on March Networks’ remote health
monitoring application to monitor
patients with hypertension.
As the project continues, the remote
health monitoring kit will make use of
new Bluetooth capabilities, allowing the
system to communicate with other Blue-
tooth-enabled devices in the apartment.
Bluetooth technology can improve trans-
mission of patient data by using the rela-
tively new, low-powered wireless standard.
Wired systems then carry the information
back to a central office.
“A good example of this would be the
weigh scale,” said Lowenstein. “The data
from that can be transmitted through our
health monitoring kit back to the provider
central station,” at the Elisabeth Bruyere
Health Centre.
Although the initiative looks at creating
safer living spaces for the elderly wishing
to live independently, actual testing of the
technology will involve patients who
reside in a long-term care facility; namely
the Residence Sacre-Coeur of the Sisters of
Charity of Ottawa.
TAFETA received $80,000 in funding
from The Change Foundation; a group
mandated by the Ontario Hospital Associ-
ation in 1997 to promote, support and
improve the delivery of healthcare in
Canada. The other partner organizations
are donating support through their own
expertise and resources.
Reprinted from Canadian Healthcare Technology, March 2003 issue
Smart systems enable senior citizens
to remain in own homes longer